32 A COUNTRY READER. 



gathers off the grass, which is at once sent to one 

 of the four compartments of her stomach. When 

 this is full she generally lies down and pumps 

 the undigested food into her mouth, and then by 

 moving the jaws from side to side, her back teeth, 

 or grinders, grind the food very much as corn is 

 ground between the rough edges of the " mill 

 stones " of a mill. When the food is thoroughly 

 masticated in this way it goes into another 

 compartment of her stomach, where it is di- 

 gested in the usual manner. Now, a horse 

 cuts the grass off with his front incisor teeth, 

 very close to the ground, masticates it, and 

 swallows it as we do our food. A horse has no 

 pad as a cow, but six sharp cutting teeth in 

 front, so that he can graze very much closer to 

 the ground than can a cow. 



Here is another important fact. Between the 

 six incisor front teeth and the back teeth or 

 grinders, the horse has a space called the bar, 

 into which fits the bit that is placed in his 

 mouth. If a horse had no such space as that, 

 but teeth all round the jaws as we have, it 

 would be a great cruelty, in fact it would be 

 impossible, to place a bit in his mouth. 



In the country it is most important to observe 

 carefully everything that goes on around you, 

 and then to try and remember accurately what 

 you have observed. In this way you will 



